(88) Works of Love II C
You Shall Love Your Neighbor
"For loving one's neighbor is a thankless task!"
Here's the measure of our disposition
Does what we do link to our understanding?
And how far from this do we make decisions?
That connection may feel, in this, quite demanding
The highest things are divinely given and belong to us
To this knowledge and to understanding we are all assigned
But do we keep our distance from what this means and doing thus
Act in another way and kind?
When all is calm and feels safe
Our understanding we fierce uphold
When confusion reigns and we can't escape
Our understanding falters and grows less bold
We can diminish understanding—justifications increase
To explain away our understanding, why our actions change
Thus we justify our understanding and turn that to our release
So we settle for a safer life, and our understanding we exchange
All of us, we noble folks of high distinction
Will study fully understanding in its great depth
But when it comes to loving all and in all conditions
Our understanding tends to shift and shy in many steps
If we see our neighbor solely as an attractive abstraction
But don't see our neighbor in those real people that we meet
Our understanding shrinks and becomes but a small distraction
And leads us into paths and actions that, in truth, are incomplete
If we do not see our neighbor in them all
Then in this commandment, we have failed
If we don't respond to this essential, divine call
Our spirits and distinctions soon grow deathly pale